How did we reach the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement in Gaza?

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, US and Qatari mediators said.

If the Israeli cabinet and government formally approve the deal, which has not yet happened, the first six-week phase will go into effect on January 19.

The agreement follows 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas, a Palestinian armed group and political movement.

The current conflict began when hundreds of Hamas fighters stormed across Israel’s southern border on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages in Gaza.

Israel responded with a military campaign, starting with an immediate aerial bombardment and then a full-scale ground invasion launched on 27 October. Since then, Israel has attacked targets throughout Gaza by land, sea and air, while Hamas has attacked Israel with rockets.

More than 46,700 people – the majority of them civilians – have been killed by Israel’s attacks, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas.

Here is a reminder of the key events in the negotiations.

2023

October 7: Hundreds of gunmen led by Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, breaching the border fence and targeting nearby communities, police stations and army bases. About 1,200 people are killed and 251 hostages taken in Gaza. Hamas also fires thousands of rockets into Israel. The Israeli military immediately responded with air and artillery strikes in Gaza.

October 27: Israel launches a ground invasion of Gaza. Israel’s massive military campaign will devastate Gaza, displace most of the 2.3 million population, and kill more than 46,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

November 21: A deal negotiated by the US, Qatar and Egypt sees Hamas release 105 of the hostages in exchange for around 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails during a week-long ceasefire. Israel and Hamas blame each other for causing the collapse of the truce.

December 28: Shuttle diplomacy on a new ceasefire and hostage release agreement begins.

2024

May 31: US President Joe Biden outlines a Israeli proposal for a three-phase ceasefire in exchange for the release of the Israeli hostages. It forms the basis of the agreement that is agreed eight months later.

June 10: The UN Security Council pass a resolution support the ceasefire plan.

July 31: Speeches are suspended after the assassination of Israel of Hamas political leader and chief negotiator Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital, Tehran. The talks resumed two weeks later, initially in the absence of Hamas.

October 17: Israeli forces kills Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in southern Gaza. Netanyahu calls it the “beginning of the end” of the war.

November 9: After months without breakthrough, Qatar suspend his efforts as a mediator in the negotiations. He says Israel and Hamas need to change their positions. Both sides blame each other for the impasse.

November 20: The United States veto a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, saying it “abandoned” the need for there to be “a link between a ceasefire and the release of the hostages”.

November 27: Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Lebanon to end a 13-month conflict with the armed group Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, which was triggered by the Gaza war. It raises hopes for an agreement in Gaza, with Biden saying he will make another push with regional powers.

December 2: President-elect of the United States Donald Trump says there will be “all hell to pay” if the hostages still held in Gaza are not released by the time they return to the White House on January 20, 2025.

December 17: A senior Palestinian official says indirect speech are in a “decisive and final phase”, while Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz says that an agreement is closer than ever.

2025

January 13: Biden and Netanyahu spoke by phone about negotiations during Biden’s last week in office, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. an agreement was “very close” and that he hoped to “cross the line” before Trump took office.

January 15: Qatar’s prime minister said Israel and Hamas have agreed to a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza, and that it will come into effect on January 19. Biden says he will “stop the fighting in Gaza, increase much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families.”